Pirates of Church Street

Every time we buy pirated copy we contribute to the criminal’s coffer

Walk down Church Street in Bangalore and you’ll see a man squatting on the pavement under an umbrella with his wares neatly spread beside him. He’s a bookseller. Of course he can’t read but he’s as passionate about books as a librarian. Pick up any book for Rs. 70 he encourages you. He’s not being particularly generous to you, neither is it a distress sale. Simply put, he runs a very low cost operation: His books are all pirated.

The illegal trade in books across the country is huge and has, over the years, cost publishers and writers crores of rupees in lost sales and royalties. Says Mr U.Premlal(first name not used because he used only initials), the branch manager of publisher Macmillan in Ahmedabad, “Every year we lose 25% to 30% of profits owing to this menace. Suppose we sell 100 books, the pirated book sellers will be selling the same number of pirated copies outside; if we give discounts of say 10%, then these same people give even higher discounts.” He complains that there is no public awareness of the problem. “It is spreading like fire.”

Explaining the different techniques used by the trade he says, “When we outsource our typesetting work, and if the typesetting or the data processing in-charge is not reliable then the matter given for typesetting can be leaked and another publisher might come out with the same book before us.”

The manager Mr Paresh Shah of Sapna Book House at Gandhinagar, Bangalore, agrees. “Yes people do need to be educated about this menace and their cooperation is needed, only then can we bring down the sale of these pirated books in the market.” He has sought the intervention of the Upparpet police against the trade.

“We have filed many complaints with the police here, but have been disappointed each time we did so. We also went to the extent of approaching the court, but because of the many loopholes in the Indian legal system, we have been unsuccessful every time we tried,” he complains. “Unless and until the author of a book, the publisher and the distributor of the book get together and file a complaint, nothing can be done.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Shivkumar, says that on one occasion, when the pirated booksellers were questioned as to where the books were being printed, they denied any knowledge of the source. But even a cursory investigation reveals that pirated copies are being printed right here in Bangalore. “The printing takes place at Cottonpet Road,” he said, but only if the publisher or the author of the book concerned filed a complaint against the booksellers there, could they take any action, against them. He also said they were being printed in several small units in the city but on a large scale in Hubli, Bagalkot and Tiptur.

Says Mr Mayi Gowda, the owner of Blossoms on Church Street, “This year we suffered losses of around 20 to 25%,” on account of piracy. “It’s difficult to estimate the losses, but the sale of books here has definitely gone down, says Mr. Shanbhag, owner of neighbouring Premier gold mining equipment. Another bookstore owner, Mr Aatmaram of Gangarams, says “Our business has been affected badly, and is going from bad to worse. The losses incurred are more than Rs 50 lakh a year.”

Rajal, a regular customer at Blossoms, is clear that book piracy is wrong: “It’s definitely not correct. It’s not fair to the writer, who puts in all this effort.” But she’s the exception. India’s cost conscious consumers think little of copyright protection or brand ownership when they shop. Price is everything to them. So while authors, publishers, distributors and retailers are being ripped off everyday, our readers, even as they relish Sherlock Holmes’ investigative skills or Horace Rumpole’s courtroom theatrics, are unwittingly financing the very people they fight.